


Test of Courage

by ForNought



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Halloween, Johzenji, Pranks, Swearing, a lot of pots calling the kettle black, futamata is a gemini, mean friends, the word idiot is thrown around a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 19:50:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8340466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForNought/pseuds/ForNought
Summary: Johzenji decide to cheer themselves up with a good old fashioned test if courage. After splitting into groups it is anyone's guess whether it is ghosts or their teammates they should beware of.





	

"What the fuck!"

There was no way that this was an accident. Futamata's sly smirk did not make the situation any more believable. Rintarou had been set up.

He looked about at the rest of them, Iizaka and Bobata looking carefully ignorant. Tsucchi and Higashi looked more genuinely ignorant. At least he hadn't been outwitted by the idiots of the group. He thought Terushima was nice. Clearly that had all been an act.

Rintarou held his unmarked stick in front of him and waved it in Futamata's face. "That wasn't fair! Let's draw straws again and make it fair."

Terushima was the one to twist the knife in Rintarou's back. He shrugged affably and said, "There are an odd number of us."

"Couldn't we have made one group of three?" Higashiyama asked. Dumb he may have been but at least he wasn't at the centre of the betrayal.

"Yeah, why do I have to go alone?"

"Isn't it scarier that way?" Futamata asked, wriggling his fingers close enough that they tapped at the end of Rintarou's nose.

"Are you scared?" Bobata suggested.

"Shut up. If you're so brave why don't you go alone. Come on Tsucchi, we can stick together."

"Actually, Jiri, I think I would rather stick with Bobata," Tsuchiyu piped up.

"Are you saying you don't think I could protect you from a ghost?"

"I think that is exactly what he is saying," Iizaka said sagely.

Rintarou shoved at Iizaka's arm roughly but there was a rebound that he was not expecting and he staggered backwards a few steps. He pointed at Tsuchiyu just so he knew that this was personal. "I don't think you could protect me either. Watch your back, Bobata, because Tsucchi will definitely trade your soul for freedom."

"I'd do the same," Bobata shrugged as though losing his soul was no big deal.

"Yeah, well-"

"Diva Time is over, Jiri," Futamata interrupted, clapping his hands together. "Let's get started before it's morning. Now remember, we are leaving in order of bravery. Terushima and I will go first. Good luck, everybody."

Just before Futamata could drag Terushima away, Higashiyama tugged at Futamata's sleeve with a frown writ across his face. "But you told me and Iizaka to go last."

"That's right," Futamata confirmed cheerily. "Don't piss your pants too many times, lads!"

With a wave he was off, strolling away from the foyer and between the rows of old shoe lockers and down down the corridor to the dark beyond. Terushima grinned and gave a small thumbs up.

"Call me in fifteen minutes. If I don't answer, call the police," He said solemnly to Bobata. He turned his grin on the rest of them once more and followed the much less affable summons from Futamata.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Rintarou could hear the footsteps of the apparently bravest members of the group for a while. The thumping of their feet faded away before long, absorbed in the general creaking and groaning of the school. And it was Bobata who broke the tiny bubble of silence that encircled them.

"Yeah, I am going to forget to call Terushima."

"Are you asking me to remind you?" Tsuchiyu asked, nervously rocking on the balls of his feet.

"No. I'm just saying I will forget."

If the choice had been to explore on his own or with Bobata, Rintarou would definitely have chosen to go alone. He liked Bobata as a person most of the time but every now and then he would say something that was oddly unnerving. But Rintarou was going to ignore the unsettled realisation on Tsuchiyu's face because, in front of everyone else, he had chosen Bobata as a partner. He had made his own bed and he was going to have to lie in it.

Besides - Bobata not in the running because he was as equally scary as the school, and Tsuchiyu excluded out of spite - Rintarou was sure he had a chance to convince Higashiyama and Iizaka to stick with him.

 

 

Takeharu tried not to frown as a rule. He was easy-going and fun, and easy-going and fun people weren't that way because they frowned. But it was dark and after clambering up the first staircase he encountered, there was only one other person around. And a bit of occasional frowning never hurt anybody.

He cleared his throat significantly and said, "That had better be a ghost or vengeful spirit trying to hold my hand."

"Why is that?" Terushima asked from the position someone would likely be in if they were trying to hold Takeharu's hand.

"Because whoever it is will be on the receiving end of a punch in the next three seconds."

Three seconds elapsed and the fingers that had hooked around his own miraculously slipped away. A moment later, Terushima asked, "Could you punch a ghost?"

"I'm not sure," Takeharu mused as he peered through the broken glass panel of a classroom door. He could feel Terushima lean close to him as though he too was looking at the cobwebs linking an upturned chair to a ceiling rafter, as though he wasn't just scared. Takeharu quickly turned just in time to see Terushima's face pulled down in surprise as he jumped back. He grinned. "I could punch you though, couldn't I, Terushima?"

"I suppose you could if you wanted to."

Takeharu slid open the door. It was a bit stiff so it took a couple of tugs before the gap was big enough to fit through. Terushima was kind enough to wait until Takeharu had coughed most of the resulting billows of dust back out of his lungs before questioning any of it. "What are you doing?"

Takeharu coughed once more for good measure. He said, "I'm exploring, Terushima."

"Yeah, but why do you have to open the door?" He asked. His eyes widened when Takeharu passed through the doorway. "Futamata, wait!"

Takeharu knew that Terushima would follow him eventually. He walked further into the classroom. The windows at the far side of the room were caked with a thick layer of dust that further distorted the mangled shadows of the overgrown trees outside that stretched across the littered desks. This was the perfect environment for this sort of thing.

Rather than the ambient eeriness of an immaculately abandoned school, chairs and desks were scattered about in heaps. He kicked a desk out of his way and it screeched as it clattered against its other bedmates.

Terushima leapt into the room with his eyes wide. "What was that?"

Takeharu shrugged. "All these desks are overturned. Do you think something happened here? Perhaps one of the children was possessed by an evil spirit and went on a murderous rampage. All the other kids were rushing away and throwing over the desks to obstruct the path of the killer kid."

"Shut up," Terushima grumbled, his eyes scanning the room slowly. "The only thing that happened here was stupid kids vandalising the place just because they could."

"You calling me a stupid kid, Terushima?"

"No. Shut up. Can we hurry up and get this over with?"

Takeharu stretched his arms above his head and sighed. "This would have been more fun for us if we had gone in order of most cowardly first. I wanted to hear Jiri and Higashi's screams of terror."

He had only just realised the flaw with his plan. He had attempted to secure the aid of Iizaka and Bobata in this plan and, though the drawing straws had gone as planned, there was no guarantee that the rest of them had done any searching yet. He could usually count on Bobata, but Iizaka was too much of a variable to be certain of success.

He followed Terushima out of the classroom and tried to listen hard.

Nothing. This wasn't the evening he had been hoping for.

He made to trudge back to the entrance and hope he could make fun of whichever cowards were still by the shoe lockers.

Terushima grabbed at his arm, looking more devious than he had in the weeks following the Spring High Preliminaries.

"You could still hear some screams of terror, Futamata," He grinned.

"There's a reason you are the captain!" Takeharu cheered as he flung his arms around Terushima and whacked him on the back gleefully.

 

 

Arata was really starting to regret rejecting Numajiri.

Bobata had taken the lead and decided they should go as high as they could. Arata did not think this was a good idea.

"Bobata, have you heard that searching for high ground is human instinct in times of danger. When chased, many people will go up because something in their brains tell them it is safer."

"Up is safer," Bobata said, needlessly cryptic.

Arata was of a naturally nervous disposition. He liked to think he was self aware enough the evaluate himself to metrics such as that. Nobody had ever asked, but he was sort of afraid of the dark. There was some light filtering in through the grimy windows as they climbed up the flights of stairs but it wasn't the right sort of light. It was still dark.

The moonlight was the sort of darkness that revealed glimmers of ghosts and impossible shadows and figures standing at the foot of the staircase.

Arata grabbed at the back of Bobata's ugly jumper and wished that he had never been stupid enough to look behind him. Bobata finally stopped lumbering up the stairs and Arata hissed, "Bobata, there is a ghost following us."

Bobata turned around and then looked back at Arata with a small furrow in his brow. "That wasn't very funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny! There really was-" Arata looked down at the startling lack of ghosts at the foot of the stairs. He looked back to the unimpressed rise of Bobata's eyebrows. "It must have been a trick of the light."

They returned to climbing the stairs slowly and methodically as Bobata had initially suggested. Arata did not look back again because he didn't need to psych himself up more. That was a surefire way to fail a test of courage.

"Do you believe in ghosts," He asked as conversationally as he could under the circumstances.

"I suppose so," Bobata hummed. "When I was a kid there used to be a woman who stood at the foot of my bed and she would watch me all night. She must have been a ghost, right, Tsucchi?"

That was nothing like what Arata expected to hear. He stopped, not sure how honest the speculation was. He didn't trip and neither did Bobata who stopped climbing the stairs at the same time as Arata. But someone definitely tripped over and whined pathetically afterwards.

Futamata's parting words had obviously been in jest but Arata was impressed with himself for not pissing his pants right then and there.

Even Bobata looked shocked as he whirled around. "Oi, Jiri, go away!"

Arata turned slowly because it seemed too unlikely that Numajiri would be the ghost. There was no way that Futamata would have enlisted the help of Numajiri to scare him. But there Numajiri was, pouting and rubbing his shin.

"Jiri, have you been crying?" Arata asked. It was a reasonable question considering how much he was sniffing and keeping his face down now that he had been caught.

"Fuck off, you're crying."

Well, if he was going to be like that... "Get fucked, Jiri, you can't come with us," Arata shot back.

"I've always hated you anyway, Tsucchi," Numajiri yelled back up the stairs. Even if he had denied crying he was clearly on the verge of tears now. But that wasn't Arata's problem.

Numajiri scrambled up a few more steps, ignoring what he had been told to do. "Bobata, was it true, what you said about the woman in your bedroom?"

"Who knows," Bobata shrugged.

"Please, Bobata, I am begging you to tell me!"

Bobata looked thoughtful for a moment before craning his neck to look behind Numajiri. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Wha-?" Numajiri rushed up the stairs with a wail and clutched at Arata tightly. At this moment, Arata could have been mean and pointed out the fact that Numajiri was blubbing quite loudly. He stayed quiet about the fact as he patted Numajiri's back and let him cry into the crook of his neck.

"That was cruel."

"Yeah, but it was funny too."

Arata shook his head disapprovingly despite the smile that was threatening around his mouth. He couldn't help it; Bobata had been cruel but the result had been a bit funny. It was harder to feel nervous about the whole thing when he had to put on a brave enough face to make Numajiri feel like an idiot.

 

 

Nobuyoshi was sort of a genius. Being the last to embark on the test of courage meant that nobody was watching to ensure they did as they had been told. His laziness was most of the reason he had gone along with Futamata's idea.

As more and more of the group splintered off, Higashiyama gravitated closer and closer to Nobuyoshi. He was terrified! It was perfect!

If standing at the entrance to the old school was already this frightening for Higashiyama he would easily go along with Nobuyoshi's plan.

He waited until he was sure Numajiri was gone. That took longer than expected as each step Numajiri took seemed as though it was filled with surprise. When no more of Numajiri's nonplussed grunts and gasps could be heard, Nobuyoshi grinned down at Higashiyama.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked.

Higashiyama gulped and offered a stiff smile of his own. "Of course. Why else would I be here?"

"Do you want to lead the way?" Nobuyoshi asked as he gestured deeper into the darkness.

Higashiyama eyed him suspiciously for a few moments and almost looked as though he would say no. But then he nodded quickly. "You won't just pretend to follow me, right?"

"Who do you think I am?" Nobuyoshi asked. He didn't even need to pretend to be offended before Higashiyama looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Iizaka, I didn't mean that I don't trust you-"

"I suppose I am overreacting," Nobuyoshi sighed. Higashiyama did not even seem to notice the fact that Nobuyoshi was laughing at him and looked up at him with genuine concern.

"Iizaka-!"

"Let's go," He said.

He started his walk by skirting around the shoe lockers instead of walking between them as most of the others had. There was another closer corridor than the one Terushima and Futamata had taken and Nobuyoshi decided that was the route he wanted to take.

Just before he turned there were arms tight around his waist and Higashiyama's head ducking under his armpit.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, skin-ship," Higashiyama replied easily. "This is a team building activity, isn't it? You can't bond without skin-ship."

Nobuyoshi would usually have argued the toss on that one. He had bonded with plenty of people without clinging to them and hindering the natural span of movement. He shook his head and tried not to sound too pleased when he said, "You're scared, aren't you?"

"Who, me?"

"Obviously you," Nobuyoshi retorted as he squeezed Higashiyama's nose.

"Ouch! That was unnecessary. And I am only a little bit scared anyway. It is hardly worth mentioning," Higashiyama grumbled.

It was difficult to manoeuvre this way, but eventually they managed a shuffle that sort of worked with some coordination of their limbs. It would have been a lot easier if Higashiyama let go and they could walk normally, but Nobuyoshi wasn't going to force normal behaviour on him after successfully getting the admission that he wanted.

When they had finally shuffled their way down the corridor until they reached a classroom door, Higashiyama's face turned hesitant.

"Why are we stopping?"

"You don't really want to go exploring in this old school do you? If you're already scared it doesn't make sense to exacerbate the situation, does it? So we can hide out here until we hear someone else return," Nobuyoshi said very reasonably.

It was good enough to get Higashiyama's mouth to twist into a bright smile. "You're right! This was a stupid idea anyway. It is pointless to walk around in the middle of the night. I'm glad I was partnered with you, Iizaka!"

"I feel the same way, Higashi," Nobuyoshi agreed, glad that it was so simple to have his praises sung like this. He patted Higashiyama's shoulder before he reached for the door.

It didn't open as easily as he had assumed it would. It took a few aborted tugs before he elbowed Higashiyama in the eye. His grunt of pain shattered through the quiet of the corridor as he collapsed to the ground. He rolled around in the dust for a while, clutching his eye and hissing.

"Higashi, are you alright?"

"Are you fucking serious? Why would you do that?"

It had sort of been Higashiyama's own fault for thinking it was sensible to stuff himself under Nobuyoshi's arm like that. It was doubtful that the sentiment would be appreciated, so he decided against saying it. He crouched beside Higashiyama and pulled at his wrists.

"Let me see," He requested quietly.

"Why, so you can finish the job?"

"It was an accident, I'm sorry," Nobuyoshi said, omitting the part about Higashiyama bearing at least half of the blame himself.

"What if move my hands like you say and my eye pops right out of the socket?"

"I promise that won't happen," Nobuyoshi said calmly. Higashiyama only pouted more angrily so he added, "If your eye does pop out I will do anything you want for the rest of our lives. I will even buy you a new eye."

"You can't buy me a new eye," Higashiyama grumbled. He did loosen the clasp of his hands on his face.

Nobuyoshi pulled the hands away to assess the damage. Higashiyama's eye itself was very bloodshot and the redness of the skin around it seemed to grow angrier as the skin looked puffier. It was undeniable what he had done. He shook his head and tried to look less horrified by the sight of the eye.

"You're so brave, Higashi. Everyone else will be so jealous when they hear about how you saved me from an evil spirit."

"That's not even a believable lie. Will you really tell them that?"

"Who cares if it's believable? You'll sound like the coolest guy on the team," Nobuyoshi said vehemently. That seemed to be enough for Higashiyama to start smiling again and as he started to sit up, Nobuyoshi pulled him up by his arms.

"Will I really be the coolest guy on the team?"

Nobuyoshi almost felt bad for how easy Higashiyama was. There had been a lot of talk about how the team's banner reading 'simplicity and fortitude' didn't fit the team, but Nobuyoshi disagreed. Higashiyama was most definitely simple. All he could do was smile and nod in the face of such malleable innocence. "Of course you will."

 

 

Yuuji couldn't help but keep checking his phone. Futamata had asked what he was looking at the first few times but Yuuji could tell he was straddling the cusp of Futamata's belief. It was just irritating that Bobata would forget to check up on him.

The last time he had been alone with Futamata, he had been the victim of an unprovoked attack. One minute they were talking about cute girls and the next he was being choked! For no reason!

Nobody else believed Yuuji when he told them this but it had definitely happened. Bobata not calling either meant he didn't believe Yuuji or didn't care if something happened to him. It wasn't the best of feelings but he at least had the opportunity to get his own back.

Futamata returned to where he had told Yuuji to wait. The alcove under the stairs was super creepy. There was some odd scuffling in the opposite corner that was getting harder and harder to ignore. He had hoped Futamata hadn't sent him back down to the bottom of the stairs to get eaten by rats and was relieved that it was not the case.

"It looks like Bobata went all the way up to the roof to have a nap."

"At a time like this?" Yuuji asked because it sounded like it had to be a lie. Futamata shook his head.

"Yeah. Tsucchi is still next to him because he doesn't want to be alone, but he should have left while he had the chance."

"Wait, you spoke to him? And he didn't come back with you?"

"That's right!" Futamata exclaimed. Either he was just as much in disbelief as Yuuji or he was hamming up his acting just to sell some ridiculous scenario that would result in something horrible. Futamata put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Apparently Jiri was with them at some point but they got rid of him or something. Unless Higashi and Iizaka have gone soft, he should still be wandering around his own."

"Okay," Yuuji nodded.

Getting Jiri would be easy but they should probably save him for last. The challenge would be Bobata. Though they knew where he was, thinking of a way to frightening him would be hard.

"Iizaka won't want to be burdened by two of them, so we will do Bobata first and take it from there."

"But how?"

"Give me a second," Yuuji said.

It was likely that Tsuchiyu would help if they asked him to so there was more scope for revenge than previously thought. Futamata watched him carefully and his face broke into a wide grin as soon as the idea formed in Yuuji's head.

"This is going to be good, isn't it?" Futamata said giddily. Yuuji hoped that it turned out that way.

 

 

Katsumichi had questioned the presence of desks and chairs in a supposedly abandoned school but Iizaka had told him not to worry about it so he didn't.

Iizaka was very trustworthy, which was why Katsumichi felt bad for not believing this one, teeny tiny thing.

"Are you sure that holding hands works as a deterrent against ghosts?" He asked. He kept his eyes on their hands between them, linking them where they sat on adjacent desks, just in case Iizaka could see the sliver of incredulity in his eyes.

"Absolutely," Iizaka nodded. That settled it then. It must be true.

"I was just checking," Katsumichi said quickly, smiling just so Iizaka knew Katsumichi believed him.

"It's fine," Iizaka said. "Not many people know about it so that's probably why you didn't know. How is your eye?"

"Painful," Katsumichi said. "We can tell people that after I saved you, we held hands to be extra safe. Do you think we should send them messages to hold hands so they can be safe too?"

Iizaka's mouth dropped open and he didn't say anything for a long while. Katsumichi wondered whether Iizaka hadn't heard his suggestion. He was midway through repeating himself when Iizaka shook his head.

"We shouldn't tell anyone else. It wouldn't be fair to Jiri."

"You're right." Katsumichi was glad that Iizaka was so smart. Just to make sure, he added, "Does it not work if you hold your own hand?"

"Definitely not," Iizaka said.

At least that was settled. It was better not to tell anybody else about the holding hands thing. If they all held hands it would not be fair at all to Numajiri. If they weren't going to let him stay with them, it was only reasonable not to give everyone else an advantage.

"That's a shame. At least we will be safe."

"Absolutely," Iizaka smiled.

This was nice. This was much better than wandering around scared out of his wits in the middle of the night. Katsumichi was just about to say as much when there was loud bashing at the windows behind them.

Katsumichi somehow didn't fall over and smash his face into the ground when Iizaka dragged him towards the door. He managed to regain his footing before he collided with the doorframe and he slipped through the gap with ease. He was running just as fast as Iizaka but felt a tug on his arm that nearly had him flat on his back.

"What are you doing?" Katsumichi asked.

"Not that way," Iizaka said frantically. "If you go back to the entrance we will run right into it. We need to go deeper into the school!"

It was sound logic for escaping, but to catch Futamata in the act and turn the tables it would have made sense to run right at him. But Iizaka must have had an even better idea. Katsumichi decided to go with it and let himself be dragged further into the school. Not only was holding hands good protection against ghosts but it helped them stay together. It was a great idea.

But Iizaka didn't stop running. And they didn't encounter Terushima or Futamata along the way.

Katsumichi stopped.

He wondered why Iizaka's face looked so concerned. "Why did you stop?"

"Iizaka, are you scared?"

Iizaka shook his head roughly. But his hand was gripping tightly enough at Katsumichi's hand that it felt numb.

"It's fine if you are scared. That is sort of the point, isn't it?" He said quietly.

There was a moment where he thought maybe Iizaka would get annoyed and say something mean but, eyes downcast, he nodded. Katsumichi grinned. "Let's find an even better place to hide."

 

 

Kazuma was regretting his decision to ignore the scuffling noises at the edge of his consciousness.

Tsuchiyu had disappeared off somewhere. That was odd as a fact on it's own. Tsuchiyu was already on edge in the school and Kazuma's story about the ghost in his bedroom had definitely made him more tense. For him to have left would suggest he went somewhere with someone.The first suspect to come to mind was Futamata.

Kazuma checked his phone but there were no messages from anybody gloating about some convoluted prank that barely made sense. Futamata was not off the list but he wasn't alone at the top.

Kazuma called Terushima. He had forgotten to give him a ring earlier - it was lost in the effort of making Numajiri go away - but he remembered right now. There was a small chance that Futamata had been possessed by a spirit with unfinished business and killed off the rest of the team - he seemed susceptible to that sort of thing - but Kazuma was nothing if not a man of his word.

Except Terushima didn't answer his phone. That was fine. He decided a guilt-inducing notification from Snapchat ought to do the trick.

He made sure to wear his most pathetic expression as he took a selfie. He scribbled some approximation of non-corporeal forms around the empty spaces. He sent it to Terushima and waited. The reply was near instantaneous. It was an equally poorly executed snap of Terushima with blocky red lines that Kazuma thought were meant to signify blood. It was very cute but very annoying.

He was planning his next reply when he realised something. Terushima's snap had been taken outside the convenience store near his house.

"Terushima," Kazuma yelled down the stairs.

There was no reply.

He sluggishly climbed to his feet. There was no way out of investigating this one. He walked down two flights of stairs and opened the door.

"Tsucchi!"

There was no reply again.

It was quiet. Of course he wouldn't hear every inch of the school from anywhere but he was hoping for some sign that he truly had not been left here while everyone else went home.

Kazuma walked quickly, but only because he wanted to cover as much ground as possible. Not because he was scared or anything. But he was getting annoyed. More and more annoyed. They probably wouldn't have left him. But there was still a gargantuan chance that they had. They weren't the most reliable of people.

He kept searching, calmly so he didn't overlook anything. But there was nothing.

 

 

Yuuji could hear Bobata on the second floor. He had heard the yell of his name and was thankful that he was smart enough to take selfies whenever and wherever he could.

Some genius cropping, stickers and gratuitous filter usage had succeeded in fooling Bobata. He was far better at this than anyone else.

Before messaging everyone else with instructions to ignore Bobata - Numajiri had been the easiest to fool with some throwaway lie about being the next victim of Bobata's nefarious pranks - Yuuji had been able to get Iizaka and Higashiyama.

Yuuji had been bored while Futamata was securing Tsuchiyu's assistance. He had no idea why it was taking so long to get Tsuchiyu to play along. So he had gone for a little walk.

And he had happened upon two kids with flowers sprouting from the crowns of their heads.

Yuuji wasn't an idiot. As soon as he spied Iizaka clinging to Higashiyama's hand, he knew what it was all about. Iizaka normally kept his cards so close to his chest but he was being far too obvious about this.

If the pair of them were going to be that easy it only made sense for Yuuji to provide what was coming to them.

The bushes outside the classroom windows were thick and wild and he rolled his ankle a few times while wading through the tangles. But it was worth it.

After hammering on the window he had calculated to be the best option, the satisfying screech of table legs and the rattling of furniture being shoved out of the way as Iizaka and Higashiyama ran.

 

 

Terushima had been awfully smug following Bobata becoming a victim of a wonderfully harmless prank.

"What about Tsucchi?" Takeharu asked.

Tsuchiyu pulled a face. "I feel victimised enough being with you right now."

"Well that's fine then," Takeharu retorted. That didn't feel like it was enough so he took off a shoe and threw it at him. He obviously didn't think that one through because Tsuchiyu caught it with ease.

"I'm keeping this."

"Fine, have the other one too." Tsuchiyu caught the second shoe just as easily as the first and Takeharu couldn't count himself surprised.

Terushima smirked. "Are you idiots done?"

Takeharu hopped the few steps between them and stuck his foot as close to Terushima's face as he could. He didn't get as close as he had hoped and Terushima grabbed his foot and lightly tapped his fingers against the sole. Takeharu hopped forward and kicked. The impact was mostly cushioned by Terushima's grip on his foot but it did the job well enough and it got rid of that stupid look on his face.

"Maybe you don't deserve this one," Terushima sighed. "Tsucchi, you're up."

"Ah, no, I deserve it!" Takeharu said with a whine. He hated that he was this easy.

Terushima dropped Takeharu's foot with a triumphant smirk. "Seeing as you are so desperate to pull your weight, your last target is by the stairs on the other side of the entrance. I think you should hurry."

Takeharu honestly hated how easy he was but he had needs to be met. All of those needs related to being mean, but it was only natural that he would dish it out when he could take it.

Shoeless, he made his way to the entrance. He moved past the empty shoe lockers, relaxed in his stroll. The floor was littered with dust encrusted insect exoskeletons, but the state of Takeharu's socks was nothing compared to the fulfillment to come. Takeharu would sacrifice whatever he needed for the goal.

The target was right where he needed to be; Numajiri was crouched at the corner or the corridor. It seemed like a good position to see anything approaching from both sides but it was pointless when his eyes were shut.

Takeharu stepped lightly. Not a single floorboard creaked and he couldn't believe his luck. He took his time, checking that he still could not be seen nor his footfalls heard.

And then he crouched beside Numajiri.

There must have been a stirring in the air because Numajiri flinched, but this wasn't the time to pull back. He leaned in until the flicks at the ends of Numajiri's hair were whispers against his cheek.

"Boo!" Takeharu said. It was a classic line for a reason.

Numajiri clapped his hands over his ears and yelled out as he stumbled to his feet. He tried to run away but he must still have had his eyes screwed shut because he fell flat on his face, not two steps later.

Takeharu almost felt bad about the shivering mess of a teammate lying on the floor with his arms shielding his head.

He took a few steps closer. Though he often made fun of Numajiri, this was the first time he had made him cry. An odd tightness gripped at his chest and it didn't loosen even when he crouched beside Numajiri and rubbed his hand over trembling shoulders.

"It's alright, Jiri. It's just me."

Numajiri lifted his head slightly. His face glistened with tracks of tears and snot and his features were pulled hideously with the rattling gasps of his sobs.

"Hey, stop crying. You're supposed to be the pretty one," Takeharu said softly.

"I'm not pretty," Numajiri wailed.

"I won't disagree with you."

He looked around but nobody else was here to save him. He swallowed, deciding there was nothing else for it, and dragged Numajiri into his lap. They had never hugged before, so the confused flailing didn't come as that much of a surprise. After a slow second, Numajiri relaxed some and then held on.

Takeharu was being nice so he couldn't comment on how he wasn't fond of the tears soaking into his shirt but he would remember to mention it later.

 

 

On the way home, Higashiyama and Numajiri were competing to see who was worse off.

Yuuji thought Higashiyama was an amazing person to brazenly lie like that. From what Iizaka confessed to Yuuji, Higashiyama had quite an easy time during the test of courage. The litany of horrors he was reeling off at least had Numajiri just repeating what happened to him more emphatically.

It was nice that everyone was in such good spirits. Tsuchiyu was balefully mumbling about some ghost or other, but aside from that everyone was fine. And certified as courageous.

"What do you think really happened to Higashi's eye?" Bobata asked casually.

Yuuji was amazed that he had lasted this long before asking. As soon as he saw Higashiyama's black eye the question had been burning him, and it had only got worse as Iizaka had recounted the heroic tale of Higashiyama rescuing him from a spirit who was about to bring the whole school down on their heads.

"He probably tripped over and kneed himself in the face," Futamata suggested. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Why don't we let him have this one?" Yuuji suggested. He nudged Futamata with his elbow and said, "Aren't you feeling generous today."

"Generous? Why?"

"You know, after turning over a new leaf?" Yuuji said.

"Do you know what he is talking about, Bobata?"

"Nope. Surely you are the devil incarnate as usual."

Yuuji frowned. "Did you not grow a conscience today? You know, like feeling bad for making Jiri cry?"

"You nearly made Bobata cry," Futamata retorted. It was true but it had also been for Futamata's benefit. "Anyway, I made Jiri cry, not Higashi. I don't need to pretend to believe his crap story about saving us all from a ghost." 

Yuuji sighed. He flicked Futamata in the side of the head and wondered what it would take for his conscience to develop. He got a kick to his backside for his trouble but at least he hadn't nearly been murdered this time.

**Author's Note:**

> My laptop is broken so I can't work on the self-indulgent piece that has absorbed my life for the better part of a month. 
> 
> I wrote this on my phone to cheer myself up. Hopefully you can enjoy this too, whoever you may be.


End file.
